This past Thanksgiving break, I had the honor of joining Josh G. at his house in NYC, where we feasted for breakfast on some incredibly delicious pumpkin waffles made by Josh’s mom. Unfortunately we soon came to the very last waffle (they were quite delicious)— with me, Josh, and Josh’s sister all ardently laying claim to a piece of it. Of course, we neatly sliced it into nearly-thirds — but they clearly weren’t even thirds.

Thus began the race for Proof of Equal Trisection of Waffles, where Josh and I tried to figure out how to properly trisect the waffle, using only classical implements of geometric construction (additionally, available in Josh’s kitchen), so that everyone got an equal slice. Turns out this is pretty hard. In fact, we later discovered that his has been proved to be impossible!

“Angle trisection is the division of an arbitrary angle into three equal angles. It was one of the three geometric problems of antiquity for which solutions using only compass and straightedge were sought. The problem was algebraically proved impossible by Wantzel (1836).”[1]

Well, in this case, the proof (or would-be proof) is in the waffle-maker:

Finally, here’s a way to sleep well on airplanes! PlushCuffs slip around your wrist, so you get them exactly where you feel comfortable, and your arms will never fall asleep.

PlushCuffs are incredibly lightweight, pack small, and make it easy for you sleep comfortably in a natural position. They are perfect for travel, or even for just grabbing quick naps while on the move.

Word, readers! Big thanks to all the encouraging comments on the blog — you made this happen!

Hey! If there’s been a short delay in blog posts here, it’s because I’ve just returned from being away for Thanksgiving break, to New York City! Here’s one of the highlights:

While I was there, Josh Gordonson, Billy Gordon, and I paid a visit to a nifty community invention lab called NYCResistor, where Ranjit showed us his nifty hacked player piano. We proceeded to get up to all sorts of tomfoolery with it:

“Yesterday Star, Billy, and Josh (from MIT & Brooklyn Poly) came by to visit NYC Resistor. They told me of their crazy schemes and brilliant plans, and helped me eat a giant slice of strawberry cheesecake.

When I showed them my toy piano and the new sound-processing code I was messing around with, they immediately asked why I hadn’t plugged in a microphone. I swear I would’ve gotten around to it myself… someday.

Thanks for visiting, guys – you’re welcome any time!

p.s. thanks to Isaac Schankler for help with the piano code; and we were both inspired by Peter Ablinger’s speaking piano.”